"Captain," he began, "you won't believe this ..." (6)

"If this airplane lived up to its billing, we were making history." (58)

"But the Air Staff was so pleased with the airplane that they decided to go for twenty-nine, then fifty-nine. I almost had them convinced to go for eighty-nine." (85)

"No shoot-downs; no prisoners; no hostages." (105)

"The U-2," Boehme whispered and put a finger to his lips. "You've just had a look at the most secret project in the free world." (116)

"Tony, this is top secret. What you just saw you must never ever mention to another living soul. Not your wife, your mother, nobody. You understand?" (131)

"The U-2 overflights of the Soviet Union provided us with the greatest intelligence breakthrough of the twentieth century." (163)

"Tell the president-elect that our bird flies at seventy thousand feet." And I said it with pride. (191)

"It was the epitome of grace and power, the...